City Council unsure of next move after smoking ban decision

FILE - James Ramsey smokes a cigarette outside The Peephole Bar and Grill on Main Street on Tuesday afternoon. City Council members who supported the ban two years ago said Monday they don’t yet know what they will do next.

In light of this month's 3-2 Indiana Supreme Court decision overturning Evansville's smoking ban, City Council members who supported the ban two years ago said Monday they don't yet know what they will do next.

The overturned ordinance exempted Tropicana Evansville, the city's riverboat casino, and the court's majority ruled that violated the state Constitution's Privileges and Immunities Clause. It prohibits giving any citizen or class of citizens privileges or immunities not extended to everyone.

A group of local bar and tavern owners pursued the case, and after this month's court ruling, some of them have since reinstated smoking. The Supreme Court overruled earlier decisions by Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman and the Indiana Court of Appeals supporting the city ordinance.

For Councilman Dan Adams, an At-large Democrat and retired heart doctor, the decision still stings.

"I'm so hurt by that, emotionally upset by that," Adams said after Monday's Council meeting. "It doesn't make sense. Pigman's 30-page brief was superb. He had 10 cases from all over the place that showed you were allowed to do what we did. And then the appellate court was 3-zip ... I don't understand."

As for the Council's next move, "I'm waiting to hear what the mayor wants to do ... I know that sounds kind of unlike me," Adams said.

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke supported the ban. He has also expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision but he, too, hasn't indicated any next steps.

Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, D-3rd Ward, said she would support a smoking ban which includes Tropicana Evansville, as she did previously, but doesn't know if it would have enough Council votes to pass.

Councilman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward, said, "It's too soon. I don't know what our options are. I want to see what they are and take a look at that. Hopefully we'll have two or three choices."

Smokefree Communities Director Julie Phillips addressed the Council during its brief Monday meeting and urged members to consider benefits of a comprehensive ban, including the casino. The group is having a national speaker, Bronson Frick, in Evansville this week to discuss the issue of smoking and casinos.

Under a comprehensive ban, "everyone will be given equal protection, and every business will operate on a level playing field," Phillips told the Council.

The ban including the casino's exemption passed City Council 7-2 in February 2012. Opponents of the ordinance cheered the Supreme Court decision as a victory for small businesses. Many of the same plaintiffs in the state lawsuit are continuing to pursue a settlement in federal court.